Community Based Learning: Liberatory Education

This program provides an opportunity for students who are interested in community engaged education to create their own course of study for spring quarter. Priority will be given to students who have negotiated an internship with an organization that provides community-based experience related to their academic background, and to small groups of students who are working collaboratively on community-based research. Students interested in gaining practitioner experience may intern in schools, or with social justice organizations, community education or arts programs, or through environmental or farming projects.

This program is offered through the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA), one of Evergreen's public service centers which supports learning about, engaging with, and contributing to community life in the region: https://www.evergreen.edu/communitybasedlearning.

Four credits in community studies and liberatory education must be fulfilled by participation in regular in-person classes and online collaborative work, and the rest by internship hours and/or related academic work. We will meet weekly as an entire group, and bi-weekly in cohort meetings arranged around your internship or research themes and schedules. Meetings will include relevant presentations and workshops, seminar on collective readings, and learning experiences and questions that arise organically from the unique experiences students bring back to the classroom for discussion. In addition, students are required to attend several community events, keep a reflective journal, complete several short writing assignments and a final theory to practice or research essay, and make a final presentation to the class.

In designing and implementing your independent work, remember that 8 credits = 20 hours/week; 12 credits = 30 hours/week; 16 credits = 40 hours/week. You may complement your internship with an academic component that includes related reading and research. Independent projects that enhance an internship or community-based project could include ethnographies, job or career research, grant writing, a more extensive academic research paper or senior thesis (for relevant topics), creative projects, etc. This program connects students to all 5 foci of learning at Evergreen, as well as the 6 expectations of an Evergreen graduate.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies

4 - Community Studies and Liberatory Education

8/12 - Internship -or- Internship and related academic projects (individually defined)